Development of a human- robot-environment interface for walker-assisted locomotion

Sierra Marín, Sergio David | 2020-07-21

In recent years, different factors have contributed to the growth of the population with disabilities, becoming an important focus of study and research worldwide. In this way, the constant work of medicine, engineering, and robotics have led to the development of different gait assistive devices. Among these devices, smart walkers have emerged intending to provide physical and cognitive assistance during the rehabilitation process. The smart walkers are often equipped with actuators and sensory modalities that provide monitoring mechanisms and individual’s intention estimators for user interaction, as well as several control strategies for movement and assistance level control. Accordingly, this master’s thesis presents the design, development, and implementation of a Human-Robot-Environment interface in a robotic platform that emulates a smart walker, the AGoRAWalker. This interface is made up of several modules such as a navigation and people detection system, a safety system, a motion intention detection system, and a group of autonomous and shared control strategies. The functionalities of the AGoRA Walker were validated through different experiments in healthy and pathological volunteers. Likewise, usability and performance tests of the platform were carried out, finding that the AGoRA Walker can provide an intuitive and natural interaction in different rehabilitation scenarios.